SDP and Murtala Ajaka Urge Court of Appeal to Overturn Kogi Governorship Election Tribunal Ruling
Abuja, Nigeria – June 24, 2024:
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) and its candidate in the recent Kogi State governorship election, Murtala Ajaka, have appealed to the Court of Appeal to overturn the decision of the election tribunal that affirmed the victory of Usman Ododo from the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ajaka and the SDP are seeking the court to nullify Ododo’s win and declare them the rightful winners of the election held on November 11, 2023. This request is detailed in a notice of appeal they submitted against the May 27 judgment of the Kogi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, led by Justice Ado Yusuf Birnin Kudu.
Represented by their lawyer, Pius Akubo (SAN), the appellants argue that the tribunal’s judgment constitutes a serious miscarriage of justice. They have raised 31 grounds in their notice of appeal, maintaining that they won the election and should be declared the winners.
The appellants are urging the appellate court to reinstate the testimony of their first witness (PW1) and all the documents they presented, which the tribunal had expunged from the record. Additionally, they assert that Ododo was not qualified to contest the election and that all votes attributed to him and the APC should be considered wasted.
They are seeking an order from the Appeal Court to grant the reliefs requested in their petition and subsequently declare Ajaka as the duly elected Governor of Kogi State.
The appellants criticized the tribunal’s judgment, noting that despite acknowledging that their petition was filed on time and that there was over-voting, the tribunal still upheld the election results.
They stated: “In their confusion, they (members of the tribunal’s three-member panel) ruled that PW1, who displayed the documents proving over-voting, is not clear to them. They claimed they did not know if he was an INEC staff or not.”
“It was the tribunal that ordered INEC to provide the BVAS and someone who would power and display the BVAS in court, and PW1 came to the court with a certified letter from INEC stating that he was indeed the representative of INEC.”
“PW1 was in court with his identity card and other supporting documents to show he is INEC staff.”
“Recall further that when PW1 was absent from court, the tribunal ordered INEC to produce him or another representative, and they complied. Yet, the tribunal members said they do not know him. What a contradictory judgment.”
The appellants argued that the November 11, 2023 election in Kogi State was not conducted in substantial compliance with the Electoral Act, 2022, as well as the manual and guidelines for elections, citing numerous instances of over-voting.
They presented graphic and tabular evidence before the tribunal, demonstrating that they scored the majority of lawful votes in the election, not the second and third respondents (Ododo and the APC).
The appellants also contended that if the votes affected by over-voting were deducted from the overall tally, they, and not the second and third respondents, would have the majority of lawful votes.
The SDP and Ajaka emphasized that they had tendered all necessary election forms and documents to show that the second respondent did not score the majority of lawful votes cast as held by the tribunal.
The Court of Appeal is expected to review these claims and make a ruling that could potentially alter the outcome of the Kogi State governorship election.